Fort Mills, S.C., May 14 -- The Charlotte Sting defeated the Washington Mystics, 56-51, on Friday at the Bobcats Basketball Center to capture their first win of the 2004 preseason.

Sting forward Tynesha Lewis opened the contest scoring six straight points as Charlotte built an early 8-0 lead. The Mystics cut the lead to one point with 10:02 remaining in the half, before the Sting rallied with a 16-6 run to build the lead back to 11, the largest of the game. The Sting shot an impressive 53.3 percent (16-30) from the floor and committed only two turnovers in the first half.

In the second stanza the Mystics, behind 11 points from rookie Alana Beard, cut the Sting lead to three with 2:38 left in the game. A pair of free throws from Tammy Sutton-Brown followed by one from Dawn Staley helped seal the win for the Sting, who never trailed in the game.

Sutton-Brown paced the Sting with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals. Beard and Chasity Melvin led the way for the Mystics scoring 19 and 12 points respectively.